Red Dog (2019) : I got duped! This is not the Red Dog I was looking for!

I watched this film by accident because it has the same name as a film that I really wanted to see that was about an actual dog story in Australia. I still haven't seen that film and I can't help but feel a bit betrayed because I got my hands on the wrong film and this one was not about a dog, but rather about a strip club in the early 1980's.

Imagine my dismay when I sat down, booted up the USB stick, had my take-away food arranged on the table, had my own dog at my feet waiting for the inevitable fork load or two that falls on the floor next to the coffee table and I was expecting a heartwarming Australian tale about an actual Red Dog that is meant to be a real tear-jerker at the end (I haven't seen it yet so no spoilers please!)... Then the movie fires up and it is clear from the start that this is not an Australian film at all, nor is it about a dog but instead is about a strip club in the early 80's in Oklahoma.

I don't mean to be mean but if there is one thing i definitely do not want to watch it is a bunch of grandmas talking about how they used to get their boobies out and jiggle them in front of strangers for cash.

I realize that a lot of people do a lot of jobs and I am not trying to come down on anyone for making money at exotic dancing, but honestly, I was very uncomfortable hearing about the sexual exploits of a woman now in her late 60's as she chain smokes the entire time through the interview.

The story isn't entirely about strippers though as it is a story about how now musician Luke Dick (fantastic name there bud!) grew up in this environment and when he was a kid how he was surrounded by rather dangerous people and of course strippers (because his mom was a stripper) and how even though this less than perfect upbringing would be considered bad by most, he turned out ok and has tons of fond memories of it.

I can't help but feel as though even though this film is supposed to be about "Oklahoma's rowdiest strip club" that Luke has instead turned the documentary into a 90 minute promotion for his music and for himself. As the film-maker I suppose he can do whatever he wants and I guess he was successful because this documentary has been featured at many festivals and even achieved some fan fare.

Should I watch it?

I suppose I am being a bit harsh on it only because I have this puritan image of how grandmas should be and I suppose that is a bit unfair. I suppose it is interesting to see how a person can grow up to be successful even though his mother wasn't exactly an upstanding member of society. To be fair, all the ladies that are in this that regale us with their tales of debauchery seem like really nice people and I should just cut them a little slack. For me, I couldn't bear to finish watching it because I don't like seeing grandmas talk about sexual exploits but that probably says more about me than it does about them.

For the right person this could be interesting but I grew tired of it pretty quick and thought it was gross. It is very well made it just happens to be a subject matter that I am not interested in and I was a bit butthurt because I wanted to see the movie about a dog.